But He Was Gone When Autumn Came
by Neelh
Summary: This was a Naming Day she would never forget.


Written for a contest for my roleplaying group.

The deadline was a month ago.

* * *

"Neelh! Wake up!" a voice shouted.

"One more minute," she groaned, curling up into her bed.

A quieter voice chided the first person that had spoken, before saying, "Neelh, everyone's here. Unless you want us to watch you sleep for any longer, then please get up now."

She sat up quicker than a bolt of lightning. "What. Were you actually watching me sleep?"

The De-Matoran smiled behind his Mask of Possibilities. "Yes. Both Ataigha and I were both fine with waiting, but it seems that Otteo felt otherwise."

"Otteo, you're a git," Neelh yawned. "Tunog, why did you even let him in?"

Tunog shrugged, before he was interrupted by the louder one.

"You love me," the Po-Matoran grinned, winking, and leaning on the object that he had brought in. It was sheathed in a grey cloth with blues, browns and golds woven into it. The Ce-Matoran supposed it was made by Ataigha. That was her occupation, after all.

She pulled herself out of bed and nudged him in the chest. "In your dreams."

"You will after this. I brought you your Naming Day gift!" His voice boomed throughout the hut, and Tunog winced. However, Neelh leaned forwards, perching on her bed. "And it is?"

Otteo moved to the side, to allow a full view of the object covered with a sheet. It was a little bit bigger than Ataigha, who was the tallest of all of them, and as wide as all four stood shoulder-to-shoulder. As he pulled the fabric off, Neelh beamed and stood upright.

"Mata Nui, you made me one!"

She ran to touch the keys, playing a scale on her new piano. The monochromatic protodermis under her fingers was as smooth as the water in the canals of Ga-Metru, and gave a gentle sound, that became harsher and harsher as she began to hit it more.

"Please stop," Tunog said, touching Neelh's elbow.

She nodded, and let her hand drop. "I'm sorry."

He smiled. "It's okay, but I've had to tune it several times with hammerswingers in the background and Otteo in the same room."

Neelh winced, a smirk playing on her lips. "Thank you though. All of you, including you, Ataigha."

The Ga-Matoran, who had been attempting to leave, turned to face them. "So you finally remembered me," she said, in a voice only audible by De-Matoran and some Rahi. "Do you even know how long that took for me to weave?"

"A day?" she laughed.

"A week?" Tunog asked jokingly.

"Get this!" said Otteo, overly loud. "A month!"

Ataigha nodded. "Correct. I was woking on and off, though, and the only reason you know is because you visited a while ago."

"Ooh!" chuckled Neelh. "So you two are together now, hm?"

She shook her head so vigorously, it seemed as though her Iden might fall off. "No! I would prefer to pursue someone with more… How should I put this… More intelligence. A dislike of loud noises may also be a deciding factor."

Otteo waved his hands around. "Fine! I'm offended!"

The four of them cracked up in laughter. As soon as it felt like they would stop, two of them would catch each other's eyes, and they would start all over again.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Excuse me?"

Neelh's eyes widened, and her gaze moved upwards until she made eye contact with the person at the door. "Hi, Kurau."

She sighed behind her Ruru. "Look, Neelh, I know that it's Naming Day and everyone's excited, but you're all deafening my friends."

"I have to say we're not," Ataigha said at her near-mute volume, turning her face away from the newcomer. Tunog stifled a giggle behind his hand, which resulted in him receiving a glare from Kurau.

"Still, come outside. We need to get to the Coliseum for the Naming Day ceremony." She turned and walked out of the door.

The De-Matoran stood up and brushed himself up, before pulling up both of the girls. "Come on, we've got to go."

Otteo pouted at him playfully. "Wow, that's so very nice of you."

* * *

They left the hut, with Neelh carefully locking the door in order to block intruders. The journey to the chute station was uneventful, with little groups of Matoran passing them on the way.

"Hey, Tunog," said Ataigha in her next breath.

"Yes?"

"How long will it take for this conversation to become disturbingly existential?"

He laughed. "As long as we all stay silent and don't talk about our universe's inevitable death, I think we'll be okay."

"Tunog!" Neelh scowled.

"Shh. Let's go."

The Coliseum was a pretty large building, to say the least. Neelh looked up at it's grant front before looking to her friends and entering with them. Turaga Dume was in his normal seat, and Matoran were filing in from all entrances and sitting in their Metrus. Ataigha passed something to Tunog, who held it to his chest, not letting anyone else see it. With some short goodbyes, they split up and went to their own kin.

"What was that?" Neelh asked, one mask ridge raised in a practised arch.

Ataigha replied, but her Iden did not have a mouth and instead lit up repeatedly.

"Very helpful," she snarked in reply.

Her friend leaned in so that her mask was almost beside Neelh's auditory receptors and said in a slightly louder voice, "They'll muffle the noise around him so that he doesn't get a headache, and Otteo would be annoying and say that we're going out or something."

The Ce-Matoran bobbed her head in acknowledgement and agreement. "Let's get the good seats."

They made their way into some benches near the front, but behind some other Matoran. "I spy with my little eye, someone beginning with 'K'," whispered Neelh.

"Does she wear a Ruru?" replied Ataigha.

"Obviously."

She leaned in closer to Neelh and gestured slightly at Kurau's surrounding friends. "She's going to be renamed. Her friends are surrounding her, as if to protect her, but not in a way that she would notice. We all know that some people get… ah… jealous. Also, she's sitting closest to the end, bar one Matoran. That way, she can get out quickest and there's less bother."

"Let's hope Otteo doesn't get renamed," laughed Neelh, as she pointed over to where he was sat. "He's practically in the dead centre of the Po-Matoran."

"What would he even be renamed for? The loudest Matoran in Metru Nui? Being a danger to society?"

There was no chance to reply, as Turaga Dume held up a hand for them all to be quiet. A wave of silence immediately fell upon them all, at least until two Ta-Matoran ran in, the first chiding the latter as he pulled him into a seat. A small chuckle ran throughout the Coliseum.

"Now that we have all arrived, we will begin with honourable mentions of Matoran who have done great things for Metru Nui, but have not been renamed due to other circumstances," the Turaga said, his voice amplified for all to hear. Names were listed, including Turog, who looked embarrassed as he went to the front with a Ko-Matoran who Neelh had heard to be called Matoro. All of the Matoran were given a tablet of commemoration or something, but Neelh wasn't really paying attention.

"…Ataigha…"

That definitely woke her up. The Ga-Matoran's eyes were wide and she began to protest, but she nevertheless stood up and approached the centre of the Coliseum, half a step behind Kurau. She watched worriedly as her friend was presented with a new name. As the crowd cheered, Neelh heard them as well as any normal Matoran could hear Ataigha while standing next to a waterfall.

Four.

Three.

One.

* * *

"Neelh? Neelh!"

Her eyes snapped open. She was on her bed again, with familiar hands applying medicine to her body. "Otteo?"

"Yes, also Turog and Itiya," he replied, his voice softer than usual.

"Ataigha," the Ga-Matoran corrected.

The two Matoran who hadn't just been comatose looked at her in shock. "But your name changed!" he protested.

Turog was aghast. "The Great Spirit proclaimed it!"

She shook her head. "He didn't. Itiya… Itiya was once my name. I lived somewhere else, long ago, but all my friends were… All my friends were massacred. I was lucky to escape the Ce-Matoran who did it." She shivered. "I don't know if anyone has found out, but if my name was changed back, she might find me."

All eyes turned to Neelh. Tunog cleared his throat and attempted to change the subject. "So, are you okay? Did you have any weird dreams?"

"Four, three, one," she recounted easily. "That's it."

Otteo shook his head. "I'm going out to get some of the party."

Neelh tried to sit up, but was pushed down by Tunog. "No. You've got to stay here."

She shook her head and flipped him off, standing up despite his protestations. "I'm fine. I just had a nap induced by a short vision."

"Half an hour is not short," he said.

Otteo shrugged. "I'll keep an eye on her, I swear."

Ataigha put a hand on Tunog's shoulder. "Let them be."

He stood back and let the two leave. "Are you sure that this is wise?"

"No," she replied, looking at the door. "But it is right."

* * *

Much merriment was going on in the Coliseum. Otteo held Neelh at the waist as he spun her around rapidly with no regard for the other Matoran dancing to the music. She laughed, keeping hold of his arms.

"Wait, put me down! I like this song!"

He placed her on her feet and she adjusted her mask, before running to the front of the stage. The girl was flailing her limbs in one of the oddest dances that he had seen, but still followed the rhythm quite well.

The Po-Matoran sat on a bench at the front, relaxing for a while. A watchful eye was always kept on Neelh, though, even when a pretty Vo-Matoran sat next to him.

"Hi," she smiled. When he continued staring intently at his friend, she pouted and shuffled closer. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

Otteo finally noticed her, and glanced at her for a moment. "Ah, no. She's a good friend though, like a sister."

"Oh. So, you're single?"

He shook his head. "No, and I'm not really looking at the moment."

The Matoran leaned ever closer to him, and he shuffled slightly away. "So, do you have a crush of any kind?"

"No," he said firmly, "and nothing you say can convince me otherwise." Otteo stood up and went to get some energy, and allowed Neelh to sip out from under his careful gaze. When he turned back to find her again, she had disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

"Otteo?" she asked the wind quietly. "Otteo? Otteo, where are you? Where am I?"

"You called for him?"

Neelh turned around, searching for the origins of the sound, but it seemed to come from the gentle breeze that blew in the direction of a cliff in one of the few uninhabited areas of Ga-Metru. "What's happening? Otteo, Otteo, I'm scared. Otteo!"

She caught sight of the Po-Matoran being held over a cliff by a trident, to which he was clinging onto the prongs of. "Neelh!" he shouted, the concentration in his voice evident. "Neelh, are you okay?"

"Of course!" she replied, visually agitated. "Otteo, are there any small outcroppings? On the edge of the cliff?"

He looked over, gulping. "Yeah," he replied. "Now, are you going to ask me if I'm doing alright?"

She smiled sadly, gold locking with green. "Do I have to?"

The trident shook, and for the first time, Neelh glanced for a second at the holder. They seemed to be encased in a shadow tinged with blue and purple. She looked back at Otteo with an added sense of urgency. "You need to try and gain enough momentum to get over there, and we'll figure it out from there."

The trident was suddenly dropped, and the phantom voice came again. "You won't,"

Neelh screamed her brother's name as the shadow disappeared and ran to the cliff edge, throwing herself onto her stomach. The image at the bottom of the cliff would haunt her forever more, but she knew to climb down and retrieve his cracked Kanohi Sanok before he joined the Great Spirit.

* * *

Of course, some would believe it was her who had caused his death. Tunog and Ataigha would see her face and know immediately. They would hire people who would try to get into her mind to see if she had done it, but the innate mind protection of the Ce-Matoran had kept her fear to herself.

She still dreamt about it some nights.

His wide eyes when he realised what was happening, the way he still tried to swing to the outcropping he had pointed out, the crunch as protodermis hit rock and protodermis lost.

She smiled every day at visitors to the Archives, and remembered how the only thing she could do to help was to comfort him somehow.

Maybe one night, she would dream about him as he was when he was breathing and smiling and building.

Tonight was not that night.

* * *

Reviews are not mandatory but deeply appreciated.


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